Trump on Michael Flynn’s guilty plea: It’s a ‘shame’ because he had ‘nothing to hide’

President Donald Trump, in his first comment on Michael Flynn's guilty plea to lying to the FBI, said there was "absolutely no collusion" between his campaign and Russia. (Reuters)

In his first public comments about Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with a Russian official, President Trump reiterated Saturday that his campaign did not collude with Russia and suggested Flynn lied for no reason.

When asked by reporters before departing for New York if he was worried about what Flynn might say, Trump said, "No, I'm not. And what has been shown is no collusion. No collusion. There has been absolutely no collusion. So we're very happy."

He later tweeted that Flynn's lies were a "shame," given that his actions were "lawful" and he had "nothing to hide."

I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!

Trump’s lawyer, John Dowd, drafted the president’s tweet, according to two people familiar with the Twitter message. Its authorship could reduce how significantly it communicates anything about when the president knew that Flynn had lied to the FBI, but it also raises questions about the public relations strategy of the president's chief lawyer.

Two people close to the administration described the tweet simply as sloppy and unfortunate.

The president’s comments came the day after his former national security adviser pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In a statement Friday, Flynn said he has agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team in its ongoing investigation into the Kremlin's attempts to influence the 2016 election, including possible coordination with the Trump campaign.

The plea deal marks the first time Mueller's investigation has incriminated someone who worked in the White House and who was personally close to Trump. Unlike previous charges against top Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, this charge involved actions taken during the Trump transition. Another lower-level campaign aide, foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, has also pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The question now is what Flynn knows that could incriminate others and what he might have offered in exchange for such a lenient plea deal.

Flynn, who was forced out of the White House after just less than a month on the job admitting that he lied to the FBI about conversations he had with Kislyak in December. Court records say Flynn contacted the Russian ambassador on Dec. 22 about the Trump administration’s opposition to a U.N. resolution against Israeli settlements. Flynn called Kislyak again on Dec. 29 to ask Russia not to escalate an ongoing feud over sanctions imposed the day before by the Obama administration, court records say.

Flynn admitted he was not truthful when asked by the FBI on Jan. 24 about those interactions — and that officials on the president’s transition team, including a “very senior member,” knew that he had talked to the Russian ambassador, The Washington Post reported.

That member, who was not identified, directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, about the U.N. resolution and told him that blocking it was Trump’s top priority, court records say. People familiar with the matter told The Post that that official is the president’s son-in-law and top White House adviser, Jared Kushner.

Flynn also admitted that he spoke with another member of the transition team before he talked to Kislyak about U.S. sanctions on Dec. 29, court records show. That senior official is also not identified in court records, but people familiar with the matter told The Post that it is K.T. McFarland, now Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

Trump said Saturday that he is not worried about what Flynn would disclose as part of his plea deal with Mueller’s team. Asked if he stands by his former national security adviser, Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.” Trump had previously advocated for Flynn, even urging then-FBI Director James B. Comey to be lenient with him, according to testimony Comey gave after Trump fired him.

Despite Trump's claim that Flynn's actions were lawful, it is thought that Flynn could have faced penalties stemming from the Logan Act, a federal law that prohibits unauthorized Americans from conducting diplomacy.

Trump was greeted in New York by protesters chanting "Lock him up," a reference to the "Lock her up" rallying cry used by both Trump and Flynn during the 2016 presidential campaign to disparage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Upon arriving at his first event, Trump made no mention of Flynn during his early remarks before the press was escorted out. Trump instead recounted his election victory last year and touted the early-morning Senate passage of the Republican tax plan — a rare victory for a GOP-led Congress that has struggled to pass Trump's agenda thus far.

The Senate’s passage of a $1.5 trillion tax bill followed round-the-clock negotiations and tense standoffs this week. The bill was passed 51 to 49 in the wee hours of Saturday morning, with no votes for it from Democrats and with Republican Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) voting no as well. Trump predicted that Democrats who voted against the plan would pay a price in upcoming elections.

The bill gives massive benefits to the wealthy and to corporate America while delivering mixed blessings to the rest of the country, The Post reported. It will now head for negotiations between the Senate and the House, which passed its own version with key differences. Whatever compromise is reached, both chambers will again have to pass it.

“It was a fantastic evening last night. We passed the largest tax cuts in the history of our country and many other things along with it,” Trump told reporters earlier Saturday. “Now we go on to conference, and something beautiful is going to come out of that mixer. People are going to be very, very happy. They're going to get tremendous, tremendous tax cuts and tax relief, and that’s what this country needs.”

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Jan. 24, 2018President Trump speaks to a group of mayors in the East Room of the White House.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post